We recently connected with Lori Kendall and have shared our conversation below.
Lori, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Unfortunately, resilience is a quality that you often discover in the midst of difficulty and not one that gets to be practiced on its own. I think resilience is the desire to keep going no matter how messy things can get; the urge to keep moving no matter how scared or hurt or tired you are; and the drive to try again and again until you get it right no matter how long it takes. Resilience is recognizing that the only way to truly fail is to stop trying completely and to make that an unacceptable option because you deserve to see what’s on the other side.
Somewhere along the path of life and in the face of difficulty, I realized that immense beauty and power in continuing forward no matter what and that life-altering change always lies on the other side. When you are filled with doubt, keep going!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Hey there! I’m Lori and I create beautiful and strategic brand designs and website designs for my clients. I love telling the story of a business and its values through visual designs and making sure that every design is not only aesthetically appealing but strategic in its approach to make the most of each element of creative marketing.
I began my career in 2013 as a powerhouse creative doing marketing planning, adverting design, social media marketing, brand design, website design, and content creation for a local business. In 2017, I was promoted to Director of Marketing and led a small team of talented creatives through the branding, marketing, and sale of new-build condominiums in the Austin, Texas area. Despite our small size, my team and I were able to execute full-scale marketing plans, providing creative solutions and performing 90% of tasks in-house to keep marketing costs low and ensure that each project made the most of its budget.
In 2020, I founded my own creative marketing company, Brand + Design + Create, focused on providing branding and web design services to small and mid-size businesses. I’ve been featured in Austin Business Woman, Voyage Austin, Canvas Rebel, and Austin Fit Magazine.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) The willingness to leap into the unknown and trust that you have the skills to carry you through is invaluable!
There will be so many things that you just don’t know as a new small business owner and that is normal and completely okay. Trust that you have the intelligence and skill to navigate new situations and come out the other side.
2) The willingness to learn continually
There is no curriculum and your ability to grow your business is completely dependent on your willingness to learn, grow, and try new things. You have to be willing to expand your offerings, try a new skill set, level up your portfolio, or try a new business structure to experience forward movement and growth.
3) Basic business knowledge
While you may not need a full-out business plan when you first get started, knowing how to put together a budget, how to price your services, and how to handle your taxes is 100% needed in your first few months and year in business. While it may seem intimidating, there are plenty of books, tutorial videos, and podcasts out there to help! My favorite resource is Freelance and Business and Stuff by Hoodzpah Design – their advice took me through my first year and I wouldn’t have survived without it!
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
My first year in business I would get overwhelmed often. Every issue that came up was something I had never encountered before and I would be so maxed out on stress that every mistake would feel like an insurmountable failure that was proof that I couldn’t be a small business owner and I didn’t belong with all of people in my industry that I admired.
What helped me the most was reminding myself that “this is what small business owners do in their first year”. Every mistake was a lesson, every new experience was completely normal, and every time I cried or got stressed out I reminded myself that it was a very normal experience for someone who was trying to build a business and that what I was trying to do was a hard thing and that this actually helped MAKE me a small business owner…it didn’t take away from my cred.
I use this same technique when I try something new, expand my offerings, or work with larger clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.branddesigncreate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branddesigncreate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/branddesigncreate
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorikendall/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/branddesigncr8
Image Credits
Headshots by Paige Vaughn Photo
